


Gotta Catch 'Em All

by SaucyWench



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pokemon GO - Freeform, fili and kili are not related, mentions of anxiety and depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:19:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaucyWench/pseuds/SaucyWench
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The meet-cute no one wanted, but you get it anyway.  </p>
<p>This story was inspired by a couple I saw in the park, playing Pokemon Go on a date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gotta Catch 'Em All

Fili wasn’t going to get that game.  He really wasn’t.  Then Nori came over and started talking about it, and pulled out his phone to show Fili.  It looked cute, and it was free, so hey, why not, right?  If he didn’t like it, he’d delete it from his phone.  No harm, no foul.  Only he liked it.  No, he actually loved it. 

He’d been meaning to start exercising, but in between his depression and anxiety, it was hard to make himself leave the house for a walk.  Forget about going to a gym, too.  Every time he’d looked into joining one, he felt like the employees and patrons were judging him for being out of shape. 

The game helped with all of that, though.  It gave him a reason for leaving the house, and rewards for doing so.  Walking distances made his little eggs hatch and he caught more animals.  Being able to have his phone out to watch for them to pop up on the screen gave him something to concentrate on aside from his anxiety.  He hadn’t been this motivated to get out of the house and go places in years. 

It was late afternoon, and at first Fili had been worried about walking around the local park by himself.  He didn’t want anyone to think he was there creeping on the little kids or something.  His worries were assuaged when he saw several other people around his age, all walking in zigzag patterns across the expanse, or hanging around statues or benches that were designated as stops and gyms.  Some were walking in groups of three or four, but there were plenty walking alone, too.  He wouldn’t stand out. 

The first place he went was the stop closest to him so the timer could start.  After a quick glance around to set a path, he started off in one direction that didn’t seem too crowded.  He kept his phone up, at an angle so he could keep one eye on it and one eye on the ground in front of him.  He passed a couple of others doing the same thing and exchanged friendly nods with them.  He made it to the next stop without seeing anything interesting, and stood and turned in a circle, seeing if anything interesting was nearby.

“What team are you on?”

Fili jumped at the voice.  He looked up to see a tall brunet staring at him expectantly.  The guy was cute, with his long hair pulled back into a messy bun on top of his head.  Fili, being as suave as usual, blurted out, “Me?”

“Yeah.  What team?”  The guy gave him a smile. 

“Oh.  Um, the blue team.  Mystic?”  Fili looked back at his phone to double check. 

“Yeah!  Me too!”  The guy held up his fist for a knuckle tap. 

Fili blinked at it for a second before he figured it out.  He raised his own fist, the guy bumped their hands together, and gave him another smile before sauntering off. 

Fili watched him go before realizing he was still holding his fist up like an idiot.  He lowered it and turned to walk the other way.  He shook his head at himself and murmured, “Wow, that was smooth.  Preteen boys everywhere would be envious of your game.” 

He ignored his flaming cheeks and cut across the grass to the next stop.  He got that, and went walking in the direction his game indicated to find a critter.  Sure enough, one popped up.  He stopped to throw a digital ball at it and smiled when the game said he caught it. 

“What did you get?”

Fili managed to control his flinch.  He looked up to see the guy with the bun smiling at him.  He gestured to his phone and said, “Only one of the rat things.”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting a lot of those.  You can use them to level up, though.  My name’s Kili, by the way.” 

“I’m Fili.  How do you use them to level up?  Sorry, I don’t know much about the game.”  Scratch that, he didn’t know hardly anything.  He knew enough to walk around and catch things.  That was it. 

Kili didn’t seem to mind the question.  He answered with a brilliant smile.  “Transfer them for candies and use those to evolve stuff.  It gives you experience.”

Poking around on his phone, Fili saw what Kili was talking about.  “Oh, I get it now.  Thanks.”

“No problem.”  Kili strode off to the stop. 

Fili watched him go before looking around.  He saw other people wandering around staring at their phones, coming together to joke and laugh or offer a guiding word before separating and heading in a different direction.  It reminded him of the old elaborate dances in the movies, where partners would meet briefly on the dance floor, touching hands or exchanging bows before spinning off in opposite directions to dance with someone else.  It felt good, to be a part of this dance of common interests and a member of humanity. 

“Hey, Fili!”

This time he didn’t even startle.  He looked around for the source of the call, and saw Kili waving an arm over his head.  He raised a hand palm up, wondering what Kili was yelling about.  Kili beckoned him over with a frantic waving of both hands.  Fili rolled his eyes, but decided to see what the other man wanted.  He trotted over to where Kili was standing.  He was just a short distance away with his phone vibrated in his hand. He paused to look at it. 

“Good, you got it!”  Kili came jogging up, closing the remaining distance between them.  “I don’t know how long a spawn stays in a spot.”  He watched as Fili threw his ball and caught the virtual creature.  When it showed it had been captured, he cheered. 

Fili laughed at that.  He couldn’t help it.  Kili’s excitement was infectious.  “Thanks.  I didn’t have that one yet.”

“I’m happy to help.”  Kili bit his lip for a brief moment before saying, “Did you hear about the lure party?  The coffee shop across from the college is on a stop.  They’re going to be setting out lures for a few hours.  It will draw a lot of them there.  All you have to do is sit back and wait for them to show up.”

“Really?  That sounds cool.”  Fili needed to find a guide or something for this game.  He wasn’t quite sure what a lure was.  He hadn’t bothered with a lot of the things yet since he just started. 

“If you want to go, maybe you’d let me buy you a coffee.” 

“A coffee?”  Fili blinked in surprise before frowning in confusion.  “Wait.  Are you asking me out?”

Sounding unsure for the first time, Kili frowned too.  “Well, I was trying.  It’s cool if I’m not your thing though.  Sorry.”

“No, it isn’t that.  You’re very much my thing,” Fili hastened to explain, but blushed when he realized how weird that sounded.  “I mean, no, you aren’t a thing, and you certainly aren’t mine, of course you belong to yourself, agency is really important.  And I’ll shut up now.”

A grin had slowly spread across Kili’s face at Fili’s stammered attempt at an explanation.  “By all means, go on.  It’s cute.  But you didn’t answer my question.  Want to get a coffee?”

Fili felt his face heating up but he said, “I’d like that.”

Kili gestured and fell into step beside Fili when he started walking.  By the time they reached the coffee shop, Fili had forgotten all about his nervousness.  When they left, they exchanged phone numbers, and had plans to meet tomorrow at a different park. 

Fili couldn’t wait to tell Nori all about it.  When he set out to catch things in the park, he never dreamed anything like this could happen.  Now, instead of anxiety bubbling in his chest at the thought of leaving the house, it was excitement.  He couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow might bring.   

 


End file.
